Put the clocks around the room and have your students walk around with a clipboard "spying" the analog clocks and writing the digital times on their recording sheet. Easy, peasy, lemon, squeezey {mac and cheezy}! The best part is, I include the clocks for you to use and they are blank so that you can write in your own times.

These are writing prompts and paper that I use throughout the whole year. There are over 25 of them...all for you! :) I put them in writing centers, sometimes use them in whole group lessons, and even use them as "fast finishers". The kiddos love them!

Are your kiddos feeling thespring fever or are you the one going stir crazy!?

This management tip is used on our 1st grade team but will work in any classroom.

It's great for springtime spring fever.

You need 2 Easter baskets and plastic Easter eggs (you need double the amount of eggs as you have students...so if you have 25 students, you need 50 plastic Easter eggs). Can anyone say Dollar Tree?

In basket #1, you fill the eggs with the students' names (one name in each egg). In the other basket, you fill the eggs with strips of papers that have prize names on them.

Randomly throughout the day/week, pick a student to come and pick an egg out of the name basket. They open up the egg and read the name {or you can pick from the basket instead of having a student do it-I just like to involve everyone}. If that student is on task they get to pick an egg from the prize basket (If they are not on task, you just quietly put the egg back and the students know that someone that was picked was not on task). Here is a list of the prizes I giveaway. Some of them might not be applicable to you, but you can just leave those out.

After the winning student gets their prize, you also give them one of these certificates! It makes them feel so good and you'll have VERY on task students all week.

I have a little secret for ya'll… Did you know that I'm married to Davy Crockett? I know that I go by "Natalie Kay" here on my blog and in my TPT store, but Kay is my middle name and my last name is actually Crockett. Annnnd my husband's name is David, but has always gone by Davy. (Hid dad is also David, so he's always gone by Davy. If you ask him, he'll say he hates it! And please don't ever sing the song to him… haha!)

Anyways, my sweet husband's birthday is coming up and I wanted to celebrate by throwing a little clip art sale for him! He is a pretty talented artist that does graphic design in his spare time. Occasionally he comes out with a pack of clip art for me to put in my TPT store.

We're excited to link up with Michelle this week for our our awesome Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites book study! We've loved this book so far and have already found many wonderful ways to enhance our teaching and help all students be more excited about learning. This week we're talking about Chapter 5.

Chapter 5 is all about Graphic Organizers, Semantic Maps, and Word Webs! I LOVE using these in my classroom and we use them daily (especially in guided reading). In the first paragraph of this chapter it explains that graphic organizers address both the right and left hemispheres of the brain and is a great way to help students with comprehension, meaning, and retention. All excellent reasons to use graphic organizers in the classroom!

Here's a peek at how we use graphic organizers in our classrooms.

We use this word web to fill out what we learned from informational books.

I use these Story Maps when we are are recalling events from a story and we can use a dry-erase marker (it also saved on paper and I never have to copy more) because I stick them in page protectors.

Word Ladders are also a variation of word webs. We write the rime at the top and my students add an onset on each step of the ladder (ex: ight - light - fight- might)

My students love when I pull out my posters and KWL charts are simple, but effective. I've really just taken my graphic organizers and just enhanced the size on the copy machine (11x17 paper) and laminated them.

In my 5th grade classroom, I {Natalie} used graphic organizers all the time and tried to incorporate them in all subjects. My favorite way to use them was during social studies. Just a little background information about me… I've always loved history, but it often confused me as a kid. I figured out it was because the information would go in my head, but I had no way to organize the information in my mind. Graphic organizers work as a sort of filing cabinet for the brain. Seeing the information in a visual and organized way helps the information make sense.

A few years ago I spent hundreds of hours making a complete set of American History Graphic Organizers. (This resource has 36 pages of graphic organizers and covers each main event in American History starting with early explorers.) I spiral bound them at the beginning of the year and we used it as a learning resource for the entire school year. My students loved them, I loved having them to use as a curriculum guide, and best of all - my students LOVED learning about social studies. It made sense to them and they understood how historical events connected to each other better. At the end of the year, we had a beautiful masterpiece that held all our learning for the year. Overall, using these graphic organizers enhanced our learning and helped my students understand and love history better!

Math is another great place to incorporate graphic organizers! I just whipped up this fun and interactive graphic organizer about fractions for you. You can glue this in your math journal or hang them up on a bulletin board.

Every year we write a Leprechaun Application and my students are obsessed! They all want to be a leprechaun. I love using holiday themes to integrate into our writing because my students become so engaged in it.

After we fill out our application, it's time for the "essay" portion of the application process. I have my students write an opinion piece on why they would make a good leprechaun. They have to have an opening sentences, 2 reasons, and a closing sentence. They turn out SO cute!

I've been really needing some math games for my math tubs lately. I love to do one tub that is a review of something we've already learned. And I forgot about my Rockin' Math Review Centers so I'm currently just pulling them out and dusting them off!
I have made a review center game for EVERY STANDARD in the 1st and Kindergarten Common Core Math (some games cover multiple standards). I know... I am CRAZY!

1st Grade Version

There are 18 centers!

Included in this pack:I Can Posters for each gameCommon Core Alignment pages

Problem Solving Serenade {problem solving}

You’re a Star {missing addend}

Pop Star Properties {add/subtract properties}

Star-Worthy Spinners {add and subtract}

True of False {equal/not equal equations}

Pitch Perfect {missing addend}

Key Me In {counting within 120}

Number Playlists {place value}

Concert Compare {comparing numbers}

Rockin’ Mash Up {double-digit addition}

More and Less Jam Session {10 more/less}

Musical Add Up {double-digit addition with place value}

Play that Funky Music {Measuring}

Measuring Musicians {Measuring}

Time to Rock {Time}

Data, Drums, and More! {Data}

Singing and Spinning {2D and 3D}

Fraction Stage Action {fractions}

Kinder Version

The Rockin' Math Review has a center game for just about every part of the Common Core State Standards in Kindergarten grade Math (some of the standards are to be measured orally and so I couldn't make a center game for them). This is a great way to review everything your students have learned in math all year! With a fun rockstar theme, your students will love review their math concepts!